T.34STUDIOPRACTICEJOEPEARCE

HEALTH&SAFETYThefirstandpotentiallymostimportantthingtoknowwhenworkinginastudioyouareunfamiliarwitharethehealth&safetyhazards,precautionstotake,risksetc.aswellasknowingwherefireexits,extinguishersandalarmsare.InStudioA,thestudioinwhichsessionsaretakingplaceitisimportanttoknowhealth&safetyhazardswellaswespendthemajorityofourtimeincollegethere.Startingoffwithobvioushealth&safetyissuessuchastakingintoconsiderationthatelectronicsdonotmixwithliquidsnorfoodwhichcaneasilyfallbetweenthegapsintheequipmentandcauseequipmenttojuststopworkingaltogetherormaybeevencauseablockagewhichwillleadtooverheatingwhichwillleadtoafirestartinginthestudioandifnotquicklyputoutwillcauseyoutoloseallequipmentinthenearbyvicinity.Youalsoneedtobeawareofloosecablesonthefloortoavoidatrippinghazardasnotonlywillsomebodygethurt,youmayalsodamageorbreakstudioequipment.Cablescomingthroughfromtheliveroomtothestudioaremaskedbybeingrununderaslopesoyoumayneedtobealittlecarefulnottotripupthisonyourwayintothestudio.Inthestudiostherearealsovisualsmokealarmstoalertyoutoanysmokeorfirenearbywhenyouareworkingwithheadphonesonorjusthaveamixuptoohightohearoutsidethestudio.

AUDIOEQUIPMENTSPECIFICATIONSTherearemultiplecablesandconnectionsusedinStudioAsuchas:XLRConnections–“The XLR connector is a style of electrical connector, primarily found on professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. The connectors are circular in design and have between 3 and 7 pins.” (Quote & Photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR_connector)

¼ JACK BALANCED & UNBALANCED One of the most commonly used connections that is found on musical equipment, the ¼ jack is predominantly used on electric guitars and guitar amps but can be used with a multitude of other equipment such as Pianos, keyboards, mixing desks and headphones just to name a few connection types.

(Photo from http://www.tvcables.co.uk/images/items/3m-guitar-lead-jack-jack.jpg)

UNBALANCED VS BALANCED CABLES UNBALANCED Unbalanced cables have two connectors which have two conductors connected by the two wires running inside of it. The wires running inside the cable are a signal wire and a ground wire. Usually in an unbalanced cable the signal wire will be running through the center of the cable while the grounding wire will be covering it. The grounding wire also carries a portion of the signal as well as shielding the signal wire from outside interference from unwanted frequencies from things like televisions or radios.

“Unbalanced cables work great for connecting a guitar to an amp, for instance, but because they are not very good at suppressing noise from outside interference, unbalanced cables should have a maximum length of 15-20 feet (4-6 meters), especially when used in noisy environments and with signals that are low level to begin with, such as those from keyboards, guitars, MP3 devices and so on.” (Quote from: http://www.aviom.com/blog/balanced-vs-unbalanced/) BALANCED Balanced cables have three conductors in the connector and then in the cable there are three wires in the cable itself. There will be two signal wires and then a separate grounding cable. It still works the same way that in an unbalanced cable the grounding cable covers the signal wire in balanced cables the grounding cable covers both the signal wires. The reason a balanced cable has two signal cables is so that the two wires are carrying a copy of the signal but the two copies are being sent out of phase with each other by 180 degrees. If you put the two perfectly identical out of phase signals together it will leave you with silence, as the signal will be cancelled out.

To get the signal back in phase with itself you’ll need audio equipment which can flip the phase back on itself to put it back into phase with the other signal and in turn cancel out the noise which was picked up by the cable on its way back into the equipment you’re using. “Because of this, balanced cables can support much longer cable runs; 50 to 100 feet (15-30 meters) is not uncommon, though even shorter runs will often use balanced wiring to protect against noise. The wiring for microphones, and the interconnect cables between consoles, signal processors, and amps, etc., in a pro sound system or recording studio environment are typically of the balanced variety. Standard connectors designed for use with balanced signals are XLR and TRS (or “tip-ring-sleeve”).” (Quote from: http://www.aviom.com/blog/balanced-vs-unbalanced/) Balanced & Unbalanced cables are easily distinguishable from each other when talking about guitar cables due to balanced cables having two rings around the tip of the cable jack whereas unbalanced cables have one.

FIRE WIRE FireWire is Apple Computer's version of a standard, IEEE 1394, High Performance Serial Bus, for connecting devices to your personal computer. FireWire provides a single plug-and-socket connection on which up to 63 devices can be attached with data transfer speeds up to 400Mbps.

(QUOTE FROM: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/FireWire) ETHERNET / RJ45 CABLE Ethernet cables are used primarily to connect a computer to an Internet router when Wi-Fi isn’t available although Ethernet cables can usually grant a faster Internet connection than Wi-Fi. These cables can also be used to connect two computers together.

THUNDERBOLT “Thunderbolt is a type of high-speed computer connection - for connecting peripherals and accessories, such as hard drives and monitors, to computers. Thunderbolt was formerly codenamed LightPeak, and was developed by Intel. It can carry data, video and power signals in a single copper cable. “

(Quote from http://www.which.co.uk/technology/computing/guides/thunderbolt-and-usb-3-0-explained/) PATCH LEADS (BANTAM LEADS) These cables are used to route signal through the patch bay/outboard equipment. Sending signal through from the input of choice to the selected piece of outboard equipment to then route back into the channel.

USB CONNECTIONS USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a very simple and flexible computer connection cable to make use of peripherals such as mouse, keyboard, memory sticks etc. as well as connecting to things like MIDI keyboards and even certain audio interfaces.

AUDIOTERMEXPLANATIONSAUDIO INTERFACE An Audio Interface whether already installed in your laptop/desktop computer or via an external piece of equipment allow you and enable you to get sound to and from your computer either for recording or playback. Using a professional audio interface will allow you to record multiple live instruments at one time as well as reducing latency from MIDI instruments as these higher end audio interfaces have specialised drivers inside which are made for the sole purpose of reducing lag time between you hitting a key on a MIDI keyboard and the time it takes for that information to reach the sound card. I used this piece of equipment in my mix to record bass guitar straight into Logic Pro 9 by plugging the bass into the mesa preamplifier and recording the signal using the audio interface.

AUXILIARY SEND Auxiliary sends are ways for us to select a desired signal from your channel on the mixing desk and then send it out of the desk and into an external piece of outboard equipment. When an auxiliary send is used what it is doing is maintaining an original signal path through the channel strip itself but also sending a copy of the original signal to wherever the auxiliary is patched into. Whatever the amount of signal that has been sent from the aux output would be processed and returned to the mixing desk in a blended form of wet signal and dry signal. I used auxiliary sends in my mix by sending certain amounts of the instruments in my mix on their individual channels to auxiliary two which was wired into the SPX90 multi-processor unit which had reverb set up and I got the wet & dry signal I desired. DIRECT INJECTION Directly injecting an electric guitar or bass into the patch bay/mixing desk is a way of getting a clean direct signal from your instrument straight into recording mode which allows you to use whatever outboard equipment you have available and record what you need to add to a mix. Advantages of using direct injections are that you can get a stronger signal with less noise being picked up compared to using a microphone on a guitar/bass amp. I used the process of Direct Injection to set up a bass guitar to record and add to my mix where I thought it was necessary. PATCH BAY A patch bay is a device/unit that houses a number of jack input/outputs that consist mainly of the same jack connections. These units are used for connecting and routing circuits for recording & monitoring audio equipment with flexibility. “In recording studios, television and radio broadcast studios, and concert sound reinforcement systems, patch bays are widely used to facilitate the connection of different devices, such as microphones, electric or electronic instruments, effects (e.g. compression, reverb, etc.), recording gear, amplifiers, or broadcasting equipment.” (Quote from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_panel#Uses_and_connectors)

I used the patch bay multiple times in my group’s mixes, using it to send channels to outboard compression units or to send my whole mix out of group outputs & into the TLA Ivory Series to apply some soft compression to the dynamic range of the whole mix. NOISE GATE A noise gate is used to mute signals with low volume by adjusting the threshold to a desired amount. Gates are usually able to be set so that they close partially instead of fully to allow certain amount of signals through the desk and still be heard in the mix.

“”There exist several reasons why a noise gate may be needed. For recording applications, gates are used to eliminate background noise when the instrument or voice is not generating a signal (during pauses, and just before the song starts and after the song has just finished). For sound reinforcement applications gates are not as necessary since background noise is not such a big problem once the show is taking place, so gates tend to be used more with the idea of avoiding other sounds from leaking into a microphone that is not being used. The most sophisticated drum mic’ing might use gates to avoid picking up the sound of other drums with the microphone that is supposed to pick up just the sound of a specific drum. For instance, the bass drum microphone will only be active during bass drum hits, while the snare drum gate would only be open for snare hits, such that the snare does not leak into the bass drum microphone, and vice versa.

Typically, gating takes place in a slower way compared to compression (and modifies only signal RMS levels). Also, gates are often closed for a relatively long time. Like for compressors, the detection circuit is extremely important, and may vary widely from model to model.

Also, it is important to understand that gates do not eliminate the noise. They just hide it by attenuating it when it is most obvious (during pauses), and let it through when it is mixed with the signal.””

(Quote from: http://www.doctorproaudio.com/doctor/temas/dynamics-processors-noisegates_en.shtml)

I used the noise gate on the mixing desk in my mix on a few channels just to clean up some of the sampled sounds that had some low level background noise. I adjusted the threshold pot on the noise gate just high enough to cut off the undesired outside noise to get a cleaner mix.

SEMI PARAMETRIC EQ A semi parametric equalizer is an equalizer where you can adjust frequency responses by altering factors on the hardware on a desk or software on a DAW. The difference between Semi-Parametric EQ’s & Fully parametric EQ’s is that while on a fully parametric equalizer you can adjust the frequency you want to attenuate or boost, how much you would like to attenuate/boost the specific dB while then also choosing the amount of Q factor (frequency width) but on a semi parametric EQ the Q factor is pre-determined. Using the semi-parametric EQ that is already available on the desk I adjusted the pots on the undesired frequencies and attenuated them out of my mix. SHELF EQ Shelving EQ’s are designed to be able to boost or attenuate an equal amount to all the frequencies past the engineer’s desired shelving frequency. These types of EQ’s usually have two pots, which can be changed; these are for selecting the cut-off point of the shelving frequency & the other for selecting how much boost or attenuation necessary. I used shelving EQ on the main guitar portion in my mix to bring up some more high end to get more of a bell ringing reverb sound and also on the bass guitar to bring up some more low end frequencies to boost the bass response.

OUTBOARD COMPRESSOR An outboard compressor is a piece of equipment that can be wired into a patch bay and used by sending recorded signal through the mixing desk and into the compressor. After compressing the dynamic range of the signal and then sending it back into the desk and getting the signal onto a DAW. Sending signal through the desk from Logic I used the outboard compressor to compress the bass I had recorded using the Mesa pre-amplifier to make get a more compressed dynamic range and create a softer sounding mix.

AUDIOEQUIPMENTSPECIFICATIONSMOTU 2408/1224 AUDIO INTERFACE In Studio A there are two MOTU 2408’s and one MOTU 1224. They all have 8 inputs & 8 outputs each, totaling 24. These audio interfaces convert analog signals to digital and vice versa. They connect using FireWires and XLR’s. “Generous range of analogue and digital interfacing options and sync capabilities. - Can be used as a stand-alone digital format converter. - Intelligent software design minimizes latency when monitoring overdubs.” (Quote from: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb99/articles/motu2408.654.htm)

KRK E8’S In Studio A there are a stereo pair of KRK E8’s nearfield monitor speakers which are designed to be placed only a few feet away from the engineer to maximize a true sound to help find clarity in a mix. These speakers have a frequency response of 40Hz to 30KHz and connect with 3 pin balanced XLR cables. SOUNDCRAFT SAPPHYRE MIXING DESK

This mixing desk has 36 individual channels to mix on.

On the right hand side of this desk the patch bay is able to connect to multiple pieces of outboard equipment that can be used as auxiliary buses for sending certain amounts of channel signal to and receiving the processed signal back into itself so you can record or just monitor your altered signals.

The mixing desk uses balanced XLR cables & balanced ¼ jacks for connections but the patch bay uses bantam leads to create flexible connections.

MICROPHONES Sub Kick Microphone – This microphone is made from a speaker which has had it’s internal wiring reversed and made into a microphone that picks up inaudible bass frequencies and helps to give the kick drum more of a punch. Kick Microphone – We used the Audix F14 which has a frequency response of 30Hz – 10KHz, this microphone has a cardioid polar pattern and is doesn’t need phantom power as it is a dynamic microphone.

Top Snare – We used the Shure SM57 as this microphone has a cardioid polar pattern. This microphone has a frequency response of 40Hz to 15KHz and is a dynamic microphone meaning it needs no phantom power.

Bottom Snare – We used a Shure SM58 with its cardioid polar pattern to help minimise any unwanted noise from being picked up. This microphone has a frequency response of 50Hz to 15KHz, Also a dynamic microphone so no phantom power necessary.

Rack & Floor Tom – The Audix F10 is a suitable microphone for the rack and floor tom but can also be used for top and bottom of the snare drum. This microphone is a dynamic so no phantom power needed and has a frequency response range of 50Hz to 12KHz.

Overhead Microphones – The microphones we used for the left and right overheads were the Neumann KM 84’s which are condenser microphones which means they would need phantom power. These microphones have a very flat frequency response so the signal you will be recording will be as close to the original sound as possible. Their frequency range is from 40Hz to 20KHz with a cardioid polar pattern.

DIAGRAM/PLANOFTHESTUDIOAREA Live Room

LiveRoom

StudioA

Fire Exit

StudioB

Fire Alarm

Visual Fire Alarm Fire Extinguisher

CHANNELSTRIPDIAGRAM&EXPLANATION

Here there are two pots, one for adjusting gain when recording & one for playback monitoring levels.

Lineinbuttonusedforselectingwhichconnectionyouareusing,eithermicrophoneXLRorinstrument¼Jackinput

+48vPhantompowerforconnectingacondensermicrophonethatneedsexternalpower

Øbuttonusedtoinvertphaseonamicrophonerecording

Lowcutfrom100Hzusedtocutfrequenciesbelow100Hz

Pottoadjustthefrequencyselectedonthenoisegate

Pottoadjustthethresholdforthedynamicofthenoisegate

Pottoadjustthereleasetimeforthenoisegate

Rangebuttonchangestheamountofreductiontakingplace

Inbuttonmustbepressedintoensurethenoisegateison

TheHoldbuttonchangesthewaythenoisegatecutsthesignal.Havingtheholdbuttonpressedinwillcauseaquickercutoffbutnothavingitpressedinwillcausethesignaltohaveamoregraduallyslopeddecay

ShelvingEQ.AdjusttheamountofboostingorattenuationDBtoHighFrequenciesorLowFrequenciesrespectively

MONbuttonneedstobepressedintohearyourshelvingEQchangesthroughthemonitorspeakers

Adjustthepotforwhatfrequencyyouwanttoboost/attenuateupto12KHz

Adjustthepotforwhatfrequencyyouwanttoboost/attenuateupto2KHz

EQINbutton,thisneedstobepressedinforthesemiparametricEQtohaveanyeffect

DBadjustmentpotforyourhigh&lowfrequenciesintheEQ

Next on the channel strip are the aux pots which you can use to adjust the amount of signal you want to send through from your channel in the mix and out to the patch bay to be processed by the desired piece of outboard equipment. After the auxiliary section on the channel strip there are the channel faders. This part of the channel strip has a PFL (Pre-fader level) button which works by showing the level of the audio on that channel before any faders have been adjusted. There is a cut button that works as a mute button for the channel it is pressed in on.

Next there is a pot that allows you to pan the channel in relation with the group outputs. There are four group output buttons from 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 & 7-8. When you are trying to assign a channel to a specific number on the group outputs, panning the channel pot left will always correlate to the odd number and panning right will be the even number. If the pot is left in the middle and not panned the signal will go through both channels.

The Bounce button that you press in when you wish to bounce that specific channel out of the mix.

Rev button that is used for reversing the top & bottom set of faders what allow you to be a little bit more precise with the playback fader being slightly longer.

After this section of faders there are the Monitor faders right at the bottom of the channel strip. This portion of the channel strip is the final set of options you have but are mainly for playback purposes. The Solo button is there so that once you press it in you will hear only that channel during playback. Cut button that allows you to mute that specific channel and then there are the master mute buttons M1, M2, M3 & M4 that allow you to mute all channels from 1-4 if M1 was pressed in, allowing for a group mute.

SIGNALROUTING

Once you want to record in the live room, miking up the drum kit, make sure that you choose the appropriate microphones for each part of the drum kit and that you plug the right XLR cables to the right inputs on the stage box starting with Sub Kick and then carrying on..

* Sub kick - 1

* Kick drum - 2

* Top Snare - 3

* Bottom snare - 4

* Rack tom - 5

* Floor tom - 6

* Right overhead - 7

* Left overhead - 8

• Make new project on Logic • Make 8 Audio Track (As we have 8 Microphones set up) • Make sure the correct inputs are set up to the right microphones

(Input 1 being sub Kick and working on from there) • Pan the overheads correctly left & right for the corresponding

microphones Now working on the desk

• Select correct inputs, 1-2 for Sub Kick & then pan to the left to send to only input 1 and then for the actual kick drum microphone we select 1-2 but pan to the right to select input 2

• Carry this method on until all 8 inputs are correct for their microphone paths

• Speak the musician and get them to play while you make sure all your microphones are picking up signal and your levels are correct

• Once everybody is happy with levels, record your signal through on logic

Bounce a Recording

• Press in the ‘BNCE’ button for every channel you want to put into your final desk mix

• Select the same group output on the desk on every channel you want in your final desk mix, this includes effects auxiliaries

• Create a new track on Logic, this has to be a stereo channel

• Make sure your new channel has the same group output as the other channels you wish to bounce

• Press record on logic and it will record all the channels you have ‘BNCE’ selected on

Sending Signal to an Outboard Compressor

• Select the same group output on the desk i.e 1-2 • Get a bantam lead & connect the insert send from channel 1 into the

compressor of your choice in the left in hole • Take another bantam lead and connect the insert send from channel 2

into the right in of the same outboard compressor • Your signal should now be being sent into the compressor but to get

it sending back to the desk and into your monitor speakers… • Get a bantam lead and from the left output of your compressor on the

patch bay go into insert return on channel 1 • Do the same step but with the right output of your patch bay

compressor and patch into the insert return of channel 2

Processes involved in my desk mix

My mix was the first mix we decided to undertake and use the desk’s equaliser, noise gate and the outboard equipment with.

I started the process of finishing off my mix by recording a bass using the direct injection method, doing this by connecting the bass with a ¼ jack into the MESA pre-amplifier and selecting the HI-Z setting. To get the signal back into the desk and record it we used a bantam lead from the pre-amp and into the line-in of the channel I wanted to record it to.

Once the bass was recorded, I continued to edit the sonic quality of some of the sampled instruments I had previously recorded in order to create a mix with a more specified sound that I personally enjoyed.

Added noise gate to some of the sampled instruments as a few of them had unwanted background noise.

Used the desk’s shelving EQ & semi-parametric EQ to create what I thought was a better sound.

Once I was happy with the sound of what I had, we connected the desk to the TLA compressor using the patch bay with the methods previously described and continued to add a small amount of compression to the entire mix.

After this step we decided we were all happy with how it sounded and proceeded to bounce this mix. Once bounced down I used Logic to bounce it as an MP3 file, readily available to export and upload to my sound cloud.